The Responsibility Project^®. Exploring what it means to do the right thing

Up for Debate: The Meaning of Fair Play

27 Comments

August 29, 2008 by Kathy McManus

According to the ultimate sports aphorism, It’s not whether you win or lose, it’s how you play the game.

But should sportsmanship be more important than winning, even at the Olympics?

Yes, says the International Fair Play Committee, a little-known organization dedicated to rewarding altruistic athletes who believe that fairness is “more important than winning at all costs.”

As an affiliate of the International Olympic Committee, Fair Play hands out awards each year to self-sacrificing athletes, in addition to athletically responsible kids and coaches. Any organization or individual can nominate someone for a prize.

But Fair Play has a problem. They get very few nominations. And though the Olympic Committee made a special public plea for more, recommendations haven’t exactly been pole-vaulting in, even during the Olympic Games.

Fair Play’s president thinks there’s a reason why fairness can’t compete. “Victory is a huge motivation,” he explained. “A great number of people make money off athletes. Sports federations, commercial sponsors—everyone pressures them to get to the top. Athletes live under threat.”

Olympic-sized questions of poor sportsmanship aren’t difficult to find.

• The angry Swedish wrestler who disdained and discarded his bronze medal on the floor during the awards ceremony was disqualified for “violating the spirit of fair play at the Games.”

• Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt was criticized by the president of the Olympic Committee for showing a lack of respect to his competitors with his chest-thumping, show-boating gold medal wins.

• When U.S. tennis player James Blake lost to Chile’s Fernando Gonzalez after a match that included a questionable call, Blake accused his opponent of being flat-out dishonorable. “Maybe I shouldn’t expect people to hold themselves to high standards [of] sportsmanship,” he said. “Maybe I did expect a little more out of the Olympics.”

But behind the disappointing headlines, acts of responsible sportsmanship have also played out, albeit more quietly. Dara Torres failed to get the gold, but she didn’t fail to help a Swedish competitor whose swimsuit tore just before her competition. Wildly waiving her arms to get the officials’ attention, Torres delayed the start of the race so her opponent could have a fair chance.

And when aquatic superhero Michael Phelps earned his seventh gold medal by a breathtaking hundredth of a second over second-place Serb swimmer Milorad Cavic, the win was immediately protested by Serbia. But in an unusual gesture of sportsmanship, silver medalist Cavic said, “If it was up to me right now, I would just stop the protest. “I’m not angry. I’m stoked. I’m happy. You’ve got to understand I came into this competition with a goal to win a bronze medal.”

Tell us what you think: Do Olympic athletes have a responsibility beyond winning or doing their best for their country? Should the priority be sportsmanship first, winning second? Which Olympic athletes do you think should be awarded for upholding the standards of fair play?

27 Comments

What do you think? Leave a comment

• November 14, 2008 by JB

  Winning is fun. Yep. No doubt about it. But how fun is it when you haven't had a fair competition? I mean, really, who could be proud of their win KNOWING their competitors weren't at their best? Dara Torres is the quintessential sportswoman, a model for athletes of any age, any sport, any ability.

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  • June 15, 2010 by Olivia

    I think winning is important but showing good sportsmanship is even more important because then your team would know that your there for them and that you wont let them down. You should always stick with your teammates. and besides whats a great victory without anyone to celebrate with.

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    • June 17, 2010 by joann mcgrath

      players of interent reversie do not play fair. tey take double jumps, etc so they can win. whom do we complain to stop this unfair action?

    • April 28, 2011 by tracie M. Staggers

      first of all what are the legal rules of the sport, are thier ethics and priciples behind the game? or its just winner takes all. because i think winning should be called according to the skills and style of the sport. not because that person is well known, or the family knows them.the person that is calling the games needs to actally see whats going on.

• January 31, 2009 by

  Yes, there should be fairness in playing the game, but what is fairness when the other team is playing mediocre. Does the winning team or other competitor begin to play mediocre just so the other has a fair chance. I believe not. The winning team should continue to play its best and follow all the game's rules and not sacrifice its quality just so the other team has a fair chance. The loser must accept their loss and learn from it and move on. There is always some one who is better than the other. You must decide to improve and work harder for next time.

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• April 18, 2009 by briana davis

  Sports first started because people got bored and wanted something to do, then people wanted to get more into it and start competing. Now sports is a determinant for winners or losers. Some people feel left out and some are bad sports. Sports are supposed to be fun, not to say that you are good at something, but good friends having fun.

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• April 22, 2009 by sam tanksley

  I say that no matter what sport we play, play it fair.

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  • June 15, 2010 by Olivia

    I agree 100%! I would love to have teammates like you on my team!

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• April 22, 2009 by briana davis

  It's good to have good sportsmanship because its not about winning or losing its the fun that you have playing something that you enjoy.

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• June 27, 2009 by Wendy Cromer

  I believe you can do your best to win and still show good sportsmanship. Winning at all cost probably means you either treated others disrespectfully or bent the rules a little. I don't know any competitor to go out and lose on purpose. Competitors will give their best each contest but the ones with character/sportsmanship will compete with class. Maybe the media and the Fair Play committee could promote the stories of those athletes, like Torres and Cavic. What about the players of an opposing teams who carried a competitor around the bases in a Division II NCAA fast-pitch softball game? There are many, many athletes who give their best and still treat others with respect. Let's promote good sportsmanship by recognizing even the smallest of examples. Examples are out there. Here's one, a player on my college team missed the entire season due to injury and another missed all but nine matches due to injury and those two young student-athletes were at practice and matches to support their teammates. They cheered, encouraged, and set a great example of sportsmanship and leadership the whole year. Examples are out there...they just may not all be at the high profile levels.

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• July 1, 2009 by Natalie EGH

  Sports like all forms of leisure becomes a reflection in microscopic form of the society in which it exists. When children play are allowed to play sports without parental interference except for issues of safety, they play for just the joy. They share, they cheer at each others success and they laugh WITH each other at their failures and then help those who failed to succeed. When the attitude changes from "It is not whether you win or lose but how you play the game." and "Winning is not the most important thing" to "Winning is not the most important thing, it is the only thing." consider what we are telling our children. It is ok to cheat, it is ok to sabotage those who might beat us, it is ok to shoot the quarterback of the opposing football team (see McArthur HS, Lawton OK, early or mid 1970's). Bad sportsmanship we easily recognize and frown upon because it is a violation of courtesy, but how much worse is does not play fairly and honestly. How much is a new house, car, or toy (electronic or otherwise) worth. Is that job worth so much that people would sacrifice their honor, honesty, and integrity (the only things one can truly own) for it? Just as cheating in one aspect of life corrupts other aspects, honesty, fairness, and integrity in one area helps strengthen other areas, even causing true repenting of previous corruption leading to purification. If you are into competing, play hard but with fairness and honesty. There is absolutely nothing wrong with winning or enjoying winning. Trying to set new records when your competition is no competition is also good, as long as it is NOT for the wrong reason, to humiliate or degrade your competition. Many people only compete with themselves. Some might even say the only true competition is to do ones best. Only by doing such, can we improve or enjoy our accomplishments when the ravages of time diminish our abilities. And by playing fairly you need never look back upon your achievements and failures with pride. (And yes, I have pride in many failures including: usually being out at baseball because I always hit line drives directly back to the pitcher; coming in last in long races because I continued until I finished even if it was walking the last mile; and being beaten up in fights against people much bigger than me because I stood for what I felt was right, heck I even won a few because after the fights the people I fought respected me enough to listen finally. I kind of consider the last as winning the wars even if I lost the battles.)

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• August 27, 2009 by allevia

  kapoi sulat grabeh

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• October 8, 2009 by lauren michelle welch

  hi good i may be in the olimpics someday to anit that alsome i know it is 4 me at least

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• November 3, 2009 by Endia session

  i think the other person that lost should go to the other team and tell them good job and keep going because they are not always going to win a game win or lose i think im a winner in every way that i do or be inside and out no matter what i do immma always be a winner kuz i played the game fair and even thats how you know if ur a winner or a loser

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• November 15, 2009 by micheal watson

  it is so uncool to see young men go out on friday night and play their hearts out on the football field-just to see the referee cheat for the other team who are getting thier butts handed to them.calling phantom plays that are not there just to keep one team in the state playoffs.they need to put instant replay in high school football to keep this from happening to other teams. the game in question is the ashbrook greenwave vs.south point red raiders game on fri.nov.13,2009.if possible they need to have a review group to go back and review game tapes of certain games and plays that are called for penalty..north carolina high school football is losing focus of the game---let these kids play football and stop stealing the joy of the game it is football

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• December 3, 2009 by brian

  a good sports is when they can say we lost and get over it and play that game again

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